Shadows in the Sun
by CalltheWarden
Summary: <html><head></head>In which the youngest Drake boy is reminded of why he loves such a troublesome girl. ON HIATUS- POSSIBLE REMOVAL</html>
1. Again?

Denial is natural, right? I mean, it's not like I'm living in that great, but imaginary, reality where my girlfriend actually has, _oh_ I don't know, self-preservation skills. Because I know damn well that Lucy will never stop getting into trouble. That means that _I _will be forever getting her _out _of it, but she's worth it. Sometimes.

To distract myself from _that _train of thought, I grab my iPod from the charger and start trying to find the song that had been on repeat in my mind for the past few days. My search slows down when I see that Lucy has been messing with my songs _again._ I grimace as I pull up my messages to see if she left anything to explain. It turns out she has, for once, has told me the reasons behind her actions. What a small mercy. I'm still not forgetting the whole abandoning-me-to-Court-vampire-princesses-who-want-me-for-my-name thing. Even if she does a legitimate reason for it, in no way is it cool to desert your boyfriend of less than a month.

_Nick__- stop pouting about me messing up your playlists by adding one. I know you're not happy that I have to go to band camp, but how would it look if the drum major skipped out on this? Really, really bad. I'm sorry that we won't have time to meet up before I go. Consider this a present to help keep your mind off of Court intrigues and ingénues while I'm gone. I love you, Lucy._

_P.S. If you can figure out the moments behind each song, I'l__l go along with the prom thing. ALL of it. Good Luck. _

First off, I don't pout, and secondly there is obviously something going on if she's willing to make peace so quickly. I save the email just to make sure she can't worm her way out of the deal she made later. Then I pull up the one she titled Band Camp. Sighing, I start it to see what mischief Lucy was up to now.

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><p>Shall I continue? Do you have a song suggestion? Drop me a line and let me know.<p> 


	2. Violence is needed

For Ellie, who wanted _Mary's Song. _

I really shouldn't be shocked by this. I mean Lucy is an open-minded, accepting person. She's also a teenage girl so this is kind of to be expected but _still_. Lucy chose to start off with _Taylor Swift._ Thank God I had decided against hooking my IPod into my dock. If Quinn heard this playing, I'd never live it down. Hell if _any _of my brothers heard I'd be fair game for the rest of my looong life. I bite my tongue and try to think of what Lucy was thinking of when she picked this. It's not easy to get girls, and Lucy takes everything she does to a whole new level of crazy. I decide if I don't want to have to take Lucy to prom in _THAT_, I need to get back to work.

_Well, I was sixteen when suddenly_

_I wasn't that little girl you used to see_

Correction, Taylor, I'm only eight months older than Lucy so I was sixteen not eighteen, but other than that you were very thorough with the details when stalking me. Congratulations you get an A in "Creepy and Bizarre behavior that is socially acceptable in Women." I mean if I followed Lucy around some busybody would call the cops in a couple of minutes, whereas you do that and it's dismissed as a "crush". Normally I'd never follow a girl around, but Lucy…. is Lucy. I'm talking about a girl who managed to pass out in a pool of her own BLOOD in front of three young, i.e. _dangerous,_ vampires. I've said it more than once, Lucy has NO survival skills. If I didn't look out for her, she'd be dead or worse.

_I'll still look at you like the stars that shine_

_In the sky, oh, my, my, my _

I jump at the banging and shouting that's coming from outside my door. It's Marcus and he's reminding me that I drew the short straw and have to accompany him to meet with some of the incoming Joiik clan members. Mom had wanted one of her younger sons to attend the meeting as there was a princess who was about 18 being brought along.

I say brought because from what Connor found in her parents' email, she's a wild partier who got caught by her uncle while she was high on cocaine. Not exactly the best person to leave unattended. Just my shitty luck that I have to go play nice with a drugged up princess from the most irritating clan on the Council. I really feel like decking the next person who talks to me about anything. That is not a good mood for a _diplomat_ to be in.

"Nick, hurry up! Mom will kill us if we're late," Marcus shoots over his shoulder as he heads downstairs. I jump over the banister and catch up with him at the door. It's a short walk to the cave where we are meeting the others. Too damn soon I'm forced to make small talk with Renee, the Joiik princess. I can tell from her breath that she's drunk, though not high. It's later, when the get together is wrapping up, that trouble occurs.

Renee had been quiet through out the entire two hour meeting, but as everyone got up to leave she started hiccupping. Then she started to stumble towards me. I froze, knowing that I could severely screw things up if I handled this the wrong way. That pause gave Renee enough time to deck me.

Even drunk Renee still had vampire strength on her side. I was slammed into the stone wall as Renee started sobbing.

"It's not my baby, Jared!" Renee screeched at me. I was still reeling from my flight into the wall and was trying to tune her out. I heard the older vampires in the room gasp. Marcus grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me out, towards the woods.

"Nick, are you alright?" Marcus asked me, staring at my head to see if I had any bruises or fractures.

"No, I'm not alright! I was attacked by an evil drunken princess!" I shout at him, wondering why he even bothered to ask me that. "God, that sort of shit happens to Lucy. I actually saw _stars._"

"If you're fine enough to be such an ass, you're perfectly capable of getting home on your own," Marcus said as he started back towards the cave where the others were.

I nodded and turned to start the walk to the house. As I went through the forest, something I had said started to bug me in that I-know-I've-heard-it-before-I-just-can't-remember-where way.

"I actually saw stars," I mutter. Why was that so familiar? Lucy would have hysterics if she found out I started talking to myself about all the stars and celestial stuff she was into. Wait, _Lucy _was into stars and karma, and all of that stuff. I mean really into it. The girl _made her own horoscope charts._ I know the basics, hell I _taught_ Lucy the basics, but that is true dedication. Try to figure out why she picked this song is almost as difficult as actually teaching her about them, years ago. Oh, DUH, there's my answer!

Let's look at facts here:

Lucy likes stars

I taught her about them when we were seven

The song she picked referenced stars

Therefore, Lucy was thinking about that summer when she picked the song. One song done and I only had eleven more to do to avoid wearing _that_ to prom. I still can't believe that violence was needed to figure that out. Of course, Lucy has the most irritating, outrageous, and _very _painful habit of breaking my nose. This is just too damn ironic.

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><p>Hey guys, please do me a favor: instead of the reviews (which I really want), would you please go to to vote for 30 Seconds to Mars in the battle of the rockers? I plan on featuring one of their awesome songs in the next chapter. Thanks a bunch guys! Love, Kayla<p> 


	3. Exile

Don't hate me when you get to the end ok? The next chapter will explain, and hopefully, redeem me in your eyes.

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><p>After the Renee incident, Mom made the executive decision that I should probably go to Aunt Leona's while "all the fussy little politicians and backstabbers find something else to get offended by." Gee, Mom, I'm so glad that this wasn't a big deal. Needless to say, I heard the news from several yards behind her. No, I'm not embarrassed that I moved so far away from my own mother to hear that news. It's like stop, drop, and roll; you may look like a spaz but you're alive to be mocked for it.<p>

Anyway, that's why I'm currently doing 103 on a deserted highway on my way to Meadowcroft, Vermont. At least now I can blare whatever Lucy has put in this playlist without suffering eternal humiliation. And with my family, I do mean _eternal_.

So, imagine my surprise when the one song I could safely listen to in the house comes out of the Wrangler's speakers at deafening volumes. I grimaced, reaching over to turn the song down. Dr. Dre's "I Need A Doctor", to be specific. I don't need to think about what event she chose this song to represent. It's the why that's bugging me.

_And I don't know if I was awake or asleep_

_When I wrote this_

_All I know is you came to me when I was at my lowest_

_You picked me up, breathed new life in me_

_I owe my life to you_

_Fore the life of me, I don't know why you don't see like I do_

Three weeks after Quinn saved Hunter, Lucy and I had a fight. That's not a big deal normally. But his wasn't our normal, minor fight (or as my siblings call it "one of Nick and Lucy's famous flirting fisticuffs). We came damn close to breaking up over this fight.

_I'm in Lucy's room at the Hamilton's, watching her pack for a camping trip with her school friends.__ She's pacing more than usual, and muttering in Japanese (the one language she speaks that I don't speak). Biting my tongue, I wait for her to tell me what's causing the vivid feelings of anger and confusion._

"_I'm never going to finish," Lucy moaned as she flopped backwards onto the bed. Her head lands on my chest__, while the rest of her body is sprawled over the four poster bed she got for her eleventh birthday. I know when she got it because I had to translate the instructions for Dad, Logan, and Anthony from the Spanish. It occasionally sucks to be the only person (besides Lucy) who was truly fluent, both verbally and textually, in our large families. _

_She shifts off of me. I bite my lip, wond__ering why. Lucy has the habit of using me as pillow whenever she can. It would have irritated me, but her naps allow me to be close to her without the constant strain and temptation that her heartbeat brought. _

_Minutes drag past before she whispers, "Why didn't you tell me?" She rolls onto her side and faces away from me while she continues. "Is there a reason you thought I shouldn't know? Was it because I'm _fragile_?" She spoke the last word with such venom that I shifted away from her tense back, as if to protect myself from the fury she was radiating ._

"_What?" I say, as I truly can't think of a single thing recently that would have her so distressed. Even after I locked her in the closet, she was still calmer than she was now._

"_Did something happen? Has someone done anything to you?" That was my single greatest fear. Lucy was the better, happier, __**lighter**__ part of me. She was the only person who could make me smile, and she had been doing so for months before we started dating. No way would I let her get hurt. No fucking way in Dante's twisted hell._

"_Not to ME. To you, however, is a very different story," those cold words were the only hint I need to understand what she was referencing. On the way to get her head wound stitched up more Hel-blar showed up. They were four of them, all of them drawn to us because of Lucy's blood, and ready to kill me to get some of it._

_I'd fought them off on my own, and had gotten Lucy to Uncle Geoffrey as soon as possible.__ Uncle Geoffrey and my parents had assumed that ALL of the wounds I had were from the fight at the river. I never saw any reason to correct their assumptions. I should have realized that Lucy would figure out that something happened when I refused to talk about the river incident. _

"_Just get out, Nicholas," She sighed as she said this, and turned completely over so that there was no easy way for me to see her face. It was the fact that she used my full name that told me she was serious. _

_I slipped out of her house and into my Wrangler to head home. I was so busy trying to decipher Lucy's behavior that I didn't pay much attention to the road._

_That would explain why I didn't see the cars racing down the mountain, towards me, at NASCAR-esque speeds…._


	4. Blood Lust

For Kirsten- you have the best ideas. I still can't believe they hired us to look after small children. Jillian, Abby, and Ashley- you are my fav sis/friend/camper ever!

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><p>The smell of antiseptic was what woke me up after the impact. Before I opened my eyes, I took a moment to review what happened, and to determine how I would get out of the hospitable before I lost control. Frontal impact, broken ankle, shattered four ribs, and lost consciousness when the emergency crew arrived.<p>

"_The doctors have left us alone for a few minutes. We'll get you out of here soon," _Lucy told me. I could hear her heartbeat, accelerated far beyond the norm, almost as if her heart had taken dance lessons and was showing off by doing the mambo. It took me a moment to realize that she had spoken in French, presumably so that nobody would hear us say something strange_._

"_Sounds like the doctors are coming. Lucy, I've only got two hours until sunrise," _I tell her, starting to feel panicked at the idea of being in the open, airy ward when dawn came. I wasn't going to die with Lucy still pissed at me.

Lucy doesn't get a chance to reply before the doctors came and asked her questions about my health history. She worked her usual magic with lies and convinced them that my injuries were minor, and that my family would be taking care of me as they preferred alternative healing methods. Alternative is putting it lightly, babe. It took Lucy the better part of an hour to convince them that I was fine and to fill out all of the necessary paperwork to do the release.

Lucy drove her truck to her house, as we were cutting it _very _close to sunrise. Lucy's bedroom was windowless; a precaution originally intended to keep Solange safe when she was at Lucy's. That would work just as well for me today. Both Lucy and I were quiet as we went inside, and up to her room.

_I__'ve never opened up to anyone So hard to hold back when I'm holding you in my arms  
>We don't need to rush this Let's just take this slow <em>

Even without vampire senses, I could read Lucy well enough to tell that while she was still angry and hurt, she was also relieved that I was alive. Well, kind of alive anyway. She had to help me over to her bed. The fact that I had to use her as a crutch intensified her concern.

I start to speak, in a rush to clear the air before I fall asleep in 47 minutes.

"Lucy, the only reason I didn't mention the fight was that I hadn't told _anyone_. Everyone, including you, was stressed about everything else that was going on. I didn't think I should panic people needlessly," I breathe deeply for a few minutes as she compares what I've said with how my family and others have been acting.

She leans forward and looks me in the eye, letting me know that she has thought about what she is saying.

"Nick, do remember what you did when I came to? You started fussing about the fact that I was hurt, and trying to convince me to take it easy so I would heal. I know you heal quicker than I do, but don't I have the right to _try _to look out for you? You know if you asked me to, I wouldn't mention it to anyone. Let me point out real quick: How many people did you tell about your plans for the future? And how many people know about those plans now?"

I grimace because I know that I told her something far more important than a few scratches, and she hadn't said a word to anyone, not even to ask me for details. I glance at Lucy and whatever she sees in my expression is enough to get her to give me a tiny smile. It quickly fades as she continues in a far more serious vein now that we've resolved that issue.

"Nick, why were you hurt by three exhausted, weaponless Hel-Blar?" Lucy continues on before I have a chance to tell her. "You were trying to defend an unconscious, bleeding human. How many times in the past few weeks have you had to do that? It's only a matter of time before someone manages to exploit the fact that I'm dragging you down by dating you. It came damn close to being a few weeks ago, and we won't always be that lucky."

_No I don't want to say goodnight  
>I know it's time to leave, but<em>_ you'll be in my dreams  
>TonightTonight/Tonight_

Lucy grows quiet and flops onto her pillow. She closes her eyes and sighs like the world is too much for her to face today. I try to breathe, but can't seem to manage it. Is Lucy honestly suggesting that we should split? God, if she thinks I just going to sit back and let her end one of the best damn things that has ever happened to either of us, she's obviously been drinking. I decide to tell her so.

"Lucy, do you really think that breaking up will solve all our problems?" I ask, praying to God, Allah, Yahweh, Buddha, and anyone else I can think of that I read the situation wrong. The odds of that are around one in 8 billion.

"Nick, just suppose you got hurt or -God forbid- staked because of me? You should know by now that I do _not_ handle guilt well," Lucy tells me. I do know this about her, and that's why I feel so contrite for what I'm about to do.

"And just suppose we break up and I still wind up dead?"

"You are perfectly capable of handling the lunatics in this world if you don't have me slowing you down," Lucy says, with absolute faith that this is the truth. God, how I wished I had her conviction that everyone I loved would be all right. Because I don't have any certainties about the future-especially in regard to my mental health if we do split- I continue to make my point clear to her.

"You aren't thinking about the fact that if I break up with you, I'll be an easy target for all the fortune hunters at Court- and we both know that's enough to make me _want_ to be dead," I tell Lucy, and start the countdown in my head.

_10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…And we have ignition! _

"Nicholas Samuel Drake! Are you using me! Just to keep some god digger away from you! God, you are such a conceited ass," Lucy screams at me.

"And don't think I can't see that smile on your face- what the hell is _that _about?'

"I doubt that you'd be so upset if you _actually_ wanted to break up with me. So, the only reason I can think of for you to be suggesting this if it's not what you want is that you are scared, for some reason," I tell her through several yawns. Even though I feel like death warmed up and Lucy might kill me for that last comment, I still manage to smile at the fact that Lucy gives a damn about me. I take a breath and start to tell Lucy….

_Just a shot in the dark that you just might  
>Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life<br>_

"Nick! Nicholas Drake! Seriously, you're going to be the worst boyfriend _ever _if you die on me," Lucy babbles while I try to figure out what the hell's going on here. Oh right, close to sunrise and multiple injuries (that are still hurting like someone hit me with an anvil and decided to throw the result pulp into acid).

It hits me like a ton of bricks: I need blood. That would be an easy need to meet if I was at home. I could probably even just hunt down an animal, a la the Cullens, if it weren't for how close it was to sunrise (17 minutes, 39 seconds) and unfortunately for me, I'd die in sunlight.

"Bite the bullet, Nick," Lucy said, as if she'd been reading my mind and already had a batshit (but logical) plan for what I should do. I choke slightly, wondering just how much of those last thoughts I'd said out loud.

"You didn't say anything to me, Nick, but you're really transparent," Lucy says this in the tone she reserves for idiots who don't know that the sky is blue.

"Like hell I am." Okay, my tone isn't exactly calm or polite, but it is _not_ bad enough to deserve a combination eye roll and "Christ, Nicky" from her.

I sit up as Lucy slides closer to me. Both of us wind up propped against her headboard with Lucy turned slightly towards me. I steal a glance at her face and groan at what I see. Thank God I love her or I'd be running for my life at the look she's got in her eyes. Damn her and her big, luminous chocolate brown eyes- she found out that I can't say no to the eyes and she's used them to talk me into several bad ideas. I'd bet my last dollar that this is another one of those times.

"Alright, babe, what's your idea to solve this problem?' I ask her, mentally saying a quick prayer that it's going to be one of her more reasonable ones, something I might actually be able to go along with.

"Bite me."

I stare. For about 5 minutes. At the end of those few scant minutes it has only just begun to sink in. Lucy wanted me to BITE her. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

"No."

"Nick."

"No."

"Nick, you've only got… 7 minutes before you're out for the day, Don't pretend you don't remember what everyone has told you- the more serious the injury the sooner you need to drink. We can argue morals, and respective stupidity, and everything else once you're well," Lucy pleaded with me. I take a breath, more to asses her emotions than out of necessity.

Her concern for me was overpowering, like the smell of ash after a forest fire.

I take a few seconds to try and talk myself out of it, but I can't. This is something I've wanted for over a year, and she's freely offering it to me. I decide to shut up and do what Lucy says for once.

_My arrival at my aunt's snaps me out of my reverie of remembered blood and its tart texture. My aunt was obviously out, and so I grabbed my bag and started to head in. As I crossed the threshold my phone started to ring._

_A quick glance told me it was Sebastian, and I chose to ignore him._

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><p><em>I'm back! Camp counselour for multiple camps all summer- expect infrequent updates until end of Julyearly August. Also, Holy crap! Nick bit Lucy! I can't believe I did that._


	5. Isolation isn't good

_Did you ever believe?/Were you ever a dreamer?/Ever imagine heart open and free?  
>Did you ever deny?Were you ever a traitor?/Ever in love with your blood lust and need?_

The call from Sebastian was about Renee. I'm glad I thought to avoid a live rendition of the message, because even as a voicemail it was hell on steroids. I've deleted the message and putting it away when it rings. I decide to at least look at the caller id before I ignore.

It's Ryan Ezelle, a teammate from my lacrosse days, and a close friend who hangs out with some of the same people Lucy does. The fact that he's calling me this late has got me wondering what might've happened. Smart money is on Lucy starting a riot despite the fact she's up in the mountains with only 150 band kids and no contact with the outside world.

"Hey, Nick," Ryan says, sounding like he's just heard that Heidi Klum is married. "You might want to call Lucy soon."

"Damn, what'd she do _now?_" I run a hand through my hair and try not to panic.

"_She_ didn't. I got a call from Kirsten ten minutes ago. Apparently, Mr. K had a family crisis and had to leave Lucy in charge. Then at dinner a bunch of freshman started scratching. That blond, god what's her name, oh yeah Caryn, the one who wants to be a pediatrician, said that it was chickenpox." Ryan said all this in one breath and then continued;" According to Kir, Lucy is way stressed and so she hasn't noticed what "everyone at camp with eyes could see from 300 miles".

"And what exactly is Lucy too stressed to see," I say and brace myself. Things Lucy doesn't notice tend to be dangerous, or bizarre, or both.

"That Matt Lewis has been hitting on her for the past couple of days," Ryan gulps after saying this, and with good reason. I'm not exactly known for handling bad news calmly.

I hang up and hit speed dial 2. I break the stair railing when I hear a grating male voice answer.

_Want to be god and devil like me?/Ever want to just stop?  
>Do you want to surrender?Or fight for victory?_

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><p><em>Hey life is crazy right now. I should be able to update with more stuff later in the month. Nothing will be going up during the 17th to the 24th as I'm going to be in San Francisco. The next chapter will be at LEAST 3,000 words- i promise. Thanks for all the sweet reviews.<em>


	6. Oh Bloody Hell! Pt 1

"Laughing at me is not going to help." I'm whining, I know darn well, but really Lucy hasn't stopped giggling since I got here and explained. The fact that I broke the speed limit in three counties to get here as quickly as possible is nowhere near as funny as she seems to find it.

"I just can't believe that you forgot….._that!_ And everyone thinks _I'm_ a ditz. It's absolutely crazy!" Normally I love Lucy's laughter, but enough is enough. Good lord, you'd think that I was the lovechild of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. I try shifting on the cabin's porch, and glance into the center of 8 girls frantically packing. Clothes are being tossed across the room and into bags recklessly, shoes with rather scary heels are scattered like landmines, and Lucy and her roommates are on their phones, playing instruments, using iPods, whatever they can conceivably do to make noise.

"Are you almost done?" I wince as I say this; I sound downright PMS-y. Lucy doesn't seem to notice.

"If you'd help the guys load the cars, I should be done in about fifteen minutes."

"Where are the guys, anyway? I only saw Ryan and that was for all of 30 seconds while he ran around, screaming like an idiot."

"Again? I swear that boy needs to be medicated- Ritalin or something. Just follow the cursing and you should be able to find the parking lot." Nice directions there Lucy.

The lot was even more chaotic than the cabin, and I have no idea how that was at all possible. I got roped into loading suitcases while Ryan and Jason were loading instruments. Apparently nobody has problems playing lacrosse with me, but I'm supposedly so "clumsy" that I'd only wind up breaking several thousand dollars worth of highly tuned tin. Everybody seems to think that because I'm dating Lucy, I've somehow caught clumsiness.

_All my friends, they say they like her  
>But I know behind my back<br>they all think the same things that I do_

Lucy comes down from the cabin and throws her bag into the backseat of my Jeep, all the while talking to Kyra. She, and anyone with ears in a five mile radius, is stunned by a great resounding crash coming from the direction of the equipment trucks.

"Lucy, breathe! It was just the music stands and a couple of mallets." If that's the lie they want to go with to save their collective skins, who am I to rat out those freshmen? Especially when they are quaking in fear of one of the kindest (occasionally) teenagers in the country. Oh yeah, I'm said girl's boyfriend and I enjoy watching her ream out people who aren't me for once. Whether or not that qualifies as a sadist I don't particularly care at the moment. I just want to leave before 10, to put the most mileage in whatever direction Lucy and I wind up going.

There's an idea in the back of my head, just floating around and driving me nuts.

"Nick!" Lucy shouts across the suddenly deserted lot to me," Are we leaving or what!"

I'm next to her so fast that all she can do is blink.

"Showoff"

"I thought you were a huge fan of the saying 'If you've got it, flaunt it." It is far too much fun to tease her. I decide to rein myself in, and talk to Lucy about this quirky little idea of mine. First things first, I need to give a –partial- explanation of why I'm being _encouraged_ to stay away from Violet Hill for the time being.

"Look, Nick, I'm a huge fan of your idea, but I'm not sure I trust you," Lucy grin is mischievous and that is never good for me. Never. "After all, how can I trust you when you forgot that you had rearranged your speed dial and called the local pizza shop thinking it was me? For some strange reason that doesn't do great things for my confidence in you."

"You're never going to let me live that down, will you?' It's a feeble hope and we both know it. I'm not sure what Lucy sees in my expression- maybe absolute resignation- but she gives me a gentle smile.

"Cheer up, none of your brothers knows what happened and I don't intend to tell them," Lucy says.

"No, you're just going to think up some absurd way to refer to it so they think we're crazy, aren't you?"

She doesn't bother to deny it saying instead," I don't know maybe I should call it the pizza incident. No, that implies that it was something I did, since I'm the only one who eats. Ooh, what about the phone incident?"

"Can you brainstorm ways to humiliate me in the car? I'd love to get going sometime this year." Lucy is so distracted by the whole name thing she just nods and gets into the passenger seat. She snaps out of her reverie long enough to ask, "Who do you think is rolling their graves at the thought that we are going on a road trip?"

"It's not the dead people who'd be rolling in their graves at the thought. It would be any one who knows us. After all, who doesn't want a teenage vampire prince and his human, klutzy girlfriend roaming all over their country? It's not like we've pissed off assorted other tribes, and the Hounds, and the Hel-Blar along with whomever the hell has taken the place of Montmartre as resident pain in the ass, and who might be following us."

"I'm so glad you're an optimist, Nick."

"I try to be realistic"

"Says the one rambling on about vampire politics and stalkers."

There's nothing to say to that, so I just shut up and drive. God almighty I hope Lucy knows how to read a map or we are royally screwed. There are worse people that I could be seriously lost with- my mother, Quinn, Sebastian, Solange, everyone else I know.

_I'd leave a trail of roses that lead back home  
>(so come back home)<br>She'll pick a fight for no good reason  
>She knows I'll never leave<br>I love her half to death but she's killing me  
>She's killing me<em>

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><p><em>I'm alive! This is the first of an approx. 5 chapter arc that will end the trip and this story with Lucy and Nick back home. On my profile, there is a poll where everyone who wants to can help determine where they go. Have fun with it. Also who in their right mind gives a quiz on the 4th day of the school year? Two of my teachers apparently. Ah, High School how I love you. Who am I kidding? You suck!<em>


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